Krishnamurthy Subramanian appointed as new CEA: ISB professor is an expert in banking, economic policy; all you need to know

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Friday appointed Krishnamurthy Subramanian, a professor from the Indian School of Business, as its chief economic adviser (CEA).

Krishnamurthy Subramanian fills the role vacated by Arvind Subramanian, who abruptly left the finance ministry in June in this year. The government had invited applications for the post CEA in July.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved for the appointment of Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Associate Prof. and ED (CAF), ISB, Hyderabad, to the post of Chief Economic Adviser," said a government notification.

The key responsibilities of the CEA include providing policy inputs on industrial development and foreign trade, conducting analysis of trends in industrial production and releasing statistical information on key economic indicators.

A file photo of Krishnamurthy Subramanian. Image courtesy: Cafral.org

It could not be ascertained immediately when the new CEA would assume office.

Arvind Subramanian assumed the role in October 2014 and stayed beyond the usual three-year term at the request of union minister Arun Jaitley. Raghuram Rajan, who too was a CEA, became the governor of the Reserve Bank of India in 2013.

Here is all you need to know about the new CEA:

Currently, Subramanian serves as Associate Professor of Finance (with tenure) and Executive Director for the Centre for Analytical Finance at the Indian School of Business. He also serves on the boards of Bandhan Bank, the National Institute of Bank Management.

Subramanian holds a PhD (Financial Economics) from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, according to ISB website.

An alumnus of IIM Calcutta Subramanian is an expert in banking, corporate governance and economic policy.

Subramanian serves as a member of SEBI’s Standing Committees on Alternative Investment Policy, Primary Markets, Secondary Markets and Research.

Subramanian has earlier worked as a consultant with JPMorgan Chase in New York, according to the website. He also served in a management role at ICICI Ltd.

He worked on the finance faculty at Goizueta Business School at Emory University in the United States.

Subramanian's services on the expert committees on corporate governance for SEBI and on governance of banks for the Reserve Bank of India have established him as one of the chief architects of corporate governance and banking reforms in India, the website says.

After former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan announced in June 2016 that he would leave the central bank when his term ends, Subramanian, in an interview with Rediff, had said that the government was not keen on retaining him.

"The other reason could be the government wants to use the large surplus funds the RBI has created under Governor Rajan to recapitalise the banks. Under Raghuram Rajan, I don't think it would have happened," Subramanian was quoted as saying by Rediff while explaining why Rajan decided to go back to academics.